WA Cop Killer Could Impact Next Presidential Election

MoonHowler

If one believes the various blogs, the Washington State cop killer could very much impact the next presidential election.  4 police officers were gunned down, execution style, in a coffee shop near Tacoma, Washington  over the weekend by what appears to be a lone gunman. 

 The alleged shooter who has been identified as one Maurice Clemmons  was sentenced to 95 years for all sorts of ugly violent crimes in Arkansas back in 1989.  In 2000, he was granted clemency and released by then Governor Mike Huckabee.  Bloggers are comparing this clemency to Willie Horton which cratered the presidential candidacy of Michael Dukakis in 1988.  It appears Democrats have long memories. 

Clemmons is still on the lamb.  The 4 police officers were all parents and had been with the police department for years.  Don’t expect this one to go away.  In fairness to Huckabee, details of the clemency have not been released.

Clemmons was released on bond 7 days ago in Washington State. He had been arrested for 2nd degree rape of a minor.  The bail was $150,000.  He had to pay $15,000 and the bail bondsman footed the rest.   He sounds like a very, very bad person.  He has a long rap sheet covering a myriad of crimes.  9 children are now missing a parent because of this senseless violence.

New York Times coverage of the Huckabee issue

Remembering Marcelo Lucero: One Year Later

MoonHowler

Marcelo Lucero was an Equadorian who was murdered by a group of  teenage thugs on Long Island a year ago last Sunday. His murder  has become a rallying cry for Civil Rights, much like Birmingham Sunday became. His murder was senseless and based on hate. According to the Huffington Post (and other news sources):

 

The lessons from the Lucero killing are stark and clear. Lucero’s attackers told police that they would routinely go “beaner jumping” — which meant they would hunt down and assault Latinos. In announcing indictments last year, Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said the seven students charged in the attack admitted they regularly beat Hispanics for fun. He said one of the accused attackers, Anthony Hartford, 17, of Medford, told police “I don’t go out doing this very often, maybe once a week.” Said Spota: “To them, it was a sport.” Today, one of the defendants in the case – Nicholas Hausch, 18, of Medford, NY – pleaded guilty to four felony charges and will cooperate with authorities in prosecuting the other accused Long Island teens. According to Newsday:

Before coming across Lucero, Hausch said the group pursued another man. “I got out of the car and I chased him. We were yelling at him,” calling him a derogatory name, he said. Authorities say the group surrounded Lucero, 37, and a companion at about 11:50 p.m. near the Long Island Rail Road Station, shouting and pummeling him before he was knocked to the ground. They say Jeffrey Conroy, of Medford, fatally stabbed him. Conroy faces murder and manslaughter charges as a hate crime. Hausch said as the group left, he told Conroy to throw the knife away. Conroy said, “No, I washed it in a puddle,” according to Hausch. While they were leaving, Hausch told the group, ‘We’re not getting away with it,’ ” he told prosecutors

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Seniors put on the Back Burner–Again

MoonHowler

During the Tuesday BOCS yesterday, many citizens came forward during Citizens Time to urge the supervisors to restore  a transportation system for the seniors of Prince William County.  Last July 1 the county ended a bus program that  transported  senior citizens between Woodbridge and Manassas senior citizen centers, to doctors and hospitals , and to  other spots around town.  Economic downturn and shortage of revenue was given as the reason.

 The senior centers provide a hot lunch and companionship for those who participate.  Many seniors go to the centers to see friends, do activities and to be with people their own age.  Replacement vouchers have been allocated for those seniors who don’t drive and who make less than $30,000 a year.  Unfortunately, the vouchers only cover about 6 outings.  According to News and Messenger:

As county revenue continues to decline, the county’s staff slashed more than $150,000 from its $254,116 senior center and adult day care transportation budget. The move forced officials to eliminate four positions, as well as sell a small fleet of 15-passenger vans used to transport seniors.

With the remaining funds, the county created a pilot voucher system that allows seniors to use taxi cabs or local transit buses to do routine tasks, such as go to the doctor, get prescriptions filled or go grocery shopping.

The board allocated $30,000 in additional funding to the new program, for a total of $130,000. Officials limited voucher recipients to those over age 55 who cannot drive, and to those who make less than $30,000 per year, or couples that make less than $40,000 annually.

The vouchers, ranging in value from $1 to $5, are few, many said. And once they are gone, there is no way for them to get to the senior center.

 Read More

Black Friday: Where are the deals?

MoonHowler

Today is Black Friday, the uber-shopping day of the year. Many folks will flock to stores and malls in search of the ultimate bargain. There is just nothing as tempting as a sale.

Where are the bargains? If you find something good, post it? How many people will wait for Cyber Monday when all the internet sales supposedly happen?

What do the non-shoppers do on Black Friday?

Lou Dobbs Goes Rogue

MoonHowler

According to Poor Richard and the Wall Street Journal, Lou Dobbs is considering running for the Senate from New Jersey as a third party candidate. Equally amazing, he hasn’t ruled out running for President. it was only last week that Lou Dobbs announced his departure from CNN where he went from finance journalism to advocacy journalism. He spent the last several years hammering away over illegal immigration, even going so far as stating that illegal immigrants were bringing leprosy into the country.

Now Dobbs is announcing a change of heart.

First, though, Mr. Dobbs is working to repair what a spokesman conceded is a glaring flaw: His reputation for antipathy toward Latino immigrants. In a little-noticed interview Friday, Mr. Dobbs told Spanish-language network Telemundo he now supports a plan to legalize millions of undocumented workers, a stance he long lambasted as an unfair “amnesty.”

“Whatever you have thought of me in the past, I can tell you right now that I am one of your greatest friends and I mean for us to work together,” he said in a live interview with Telemundo’s Maria Celeste. “I hope that will begin with Maria and me and Telemundo and other media organizations and others in this national debate that we should turn into a solution rather than a continuing debate and factional contest.”

Mr. Dobbs twice mentioned a possible legalization plan for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., saying at one point that “we need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions.”

Telemundo and Lou Dobbs are certainly not two names I would ever expect to hear together. Is Mr. Dobbs becoming the poster child for Mr. Make-Over?

Gaylord National ICE

Alanna

We were privileged to receive tickets for the Gaylord National ICE opening at the National Harbor on Thursday evening.   When I first heard of the event, I wasn’t sure exactly where the National Harbor was.  At first I thought, Baltimore?  Then I thought, perhaps the complex on the Anacostia where the National Stadium sits?  But then I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the National Harbor sits just on the other side of the Wilson Bridge.  We didn’t have to drive too far and the atmosphere was a combination of  Landsdowne Resort meets Reston Towne Centre.

The hotel was like something out of a science-fiction movie.  The center of the hotel was an entirely open atrium and the outside wall, completely made of glass overlooking the Potomac River.  The elevators reminded me of Fair Oaks Mall except that they ran very high and at a quick clip.  The interior lighting, beyond words.

The Opening Ceremony included fireworks, a tree lighting and an AWESOME viewing of  ICE sculptures.  The accompanying video doesn’t do justice to the sculptures, so I highly recommend taking the kids to see this in person.

PC and the Enemy

MoonHowler

Much is being made of PC and the enemy after the Massacre at Fort Hood. Who knew what? And why were the right people not notified of Shooter Hasan’s nefarious activities on the internet? Why didn’t someone report his interaction with patients and colleagues? The answer to these questions has not yet been determined but the powers-that-be have called called for answers. The President wants a preliminary report by November 30. Senator Joe Lieberman has called for a Senate investigation.

Americans are right to ask these questions. We are at war and we are at war with an enemy that is without a nation. There is a good chance that the enemy is everywhere.

Some of us here on Anti have been watching the 10 hour series WWII in HD this week. We were at war with nations–nations that had borders and boundaries. There were nebulous areas, like our internment of Japanese Americans, but that is a shameful story for another day. We have heard the enemy called Japs and Krauts for 10 hours.

People nowadays would not think of calling a Japanese person a Jap (or nip or any of the other pejorative names American servicemen had for the enemy). We wouldn’t call a German a Kraut. Or would we? My relatives who were alive during WWII sure would still do it. So would many people I know who were of the ‘greatest generation.’

So are these people wrong? Are they politically incorrect? Is it wrong to have a slang nick name for an enemy in times of war? And once the war is over, when do we have to stop calling them by these nick names? Is it something special that those of the generation get to do? Is it okay as long as the last veteran of the era lives? I thought of that as I heard the old veterans talk of their service. I don’t know the right answer. Other opinions?

9500 Liberty Wins at St. Louis International Film Festival

MoonHowler

Congratulations to 9500 Liberty for their win at the St. Louis International Film Festival:  Best Documentary

From stltoday.com:

The prizewinners of the 18th annual St. Louis International Film festival were announced during the closing night party at the Moonrise Hotel on Sunday.

The audience-choice award winner was “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.” The acclaimed film about an abused girl learning to read was also the audience choice at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals and seems assured of a slot in this year’s Oscar race.

But it was a close competition. By mere thousandths of a percentage point, “Precious” eked out a win over the Swiss/Italian romance “Marcello Marcello,” which was named best international film.

The award for best documentary went to “9500 Liberty,” which scrutinizes immigration policy and racial profiling.

An audience award is what it sounds like. It appears that 9500 Liberty was definitely running with the big dogs. Precious is doing quite well at the box office and can be seen at any theater.

Elmo and Big Bird Recruited by the White House

MoonHowler

Two new spokes-characters for the White House will be Elmo and Big Bird.  These two along with thousands of scientists and video game programmers will be recruited to help improve math and science education in middle school and high school.

President Obama will announce this new initiative  called Educate to Innovateon Monday.  Discovery Communications, Sesame Street, Sally Ride, various CEOs will all be involved.  The initiative is a partnership with foundations and industry.  This is going to be big and will certainly rival the push in math and science back in the early 60s which was a response to Sputnik. 

Full Story New York Times

Too Much Bad News: Open Thread

MoonHowler

Sorry folks.  The news is just too bad.  I can’t do this today.  Three Mile Island Nuclear facility  has a radiation leak.  Iran is defending its nukes.  Jon and Kate mediate.  2010 foreclosures are going to go through the roof.  Health care may or may not pass and no one knows what its all about or even what outcome they should wish for.  Lieberman Eeyores over it.  Suicides are on the rise.  Bailouts helped Wall Street not Main Street.  Billions might be dedicated to Afghanistan as an anti-Taliban measure.  30k -40k troops to Afghanistan  might stretch our forces out too much.  The Cowboys beat the Redskins by one lousy point.  And if all of this isn’t bad enough…..

BARNEY IS ON STEROIDS!

[Barney picture snagged from Huffington Post.] 

 [Report just in.  The steroids are a cover up.  Actually the anomalies are  from Three Mile island radiation leakage.]